Met Gala 2025: What to Expect When Tailoring Takes the Spotlight

BY MAMELLO MOKOENA
May 3
3 min read

Photo: Myha’la, Jon Batiste, Jeremy Pope | Vogue

When the Met Gala returns on 5 May 2025, it won’t be with feathers or fantasy but with fit. This year’s theme, with the exhibition focus on “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” means a red carpet that will honour precision, history, and the artistry of construction.

The phrase “tailored for you” is more than a dress code, it’s a call to make fashion intentional. Gone are the days of arbitrary shock value; this year is about how garments speak through structure, silhouette, and stitching.

Tailoring with a Story

Expect the carpet to be dominated by flawlessly cut suits, architectural dresses, and bespoke ensembles that showcase the mastery of tailoring. The focus is on detail, think sharp lapels, high collars, clean lines, and garments that look like they were sculpted rather than sewn.

This isn’t just about looking good in a suit. It’s about rethinking what tailoring can do. How it can shape the body, communicate identity, and reclaim narratives, particularly those shaped by the Black diaspora’s relationship to fashion, power, and self-expression.

Double-breasted jackets, dramatic overcoats, and waist-snatched silhouettes will be in galore. But so too will be unexpected takes on tailoring, maybe like deconstructed blazers, flowing fabrics with suiting structure, and hybrid pieces that blur the line between dress and suit.

A Global and Historical Lens

The red carpet is likely to reflect the rich diversity of Black style and craftsmanship. This means, drawing influence from the Harlem Renaissance, Congolese sapeurs, British dandyism, and Caribbean Sunday best but all reinterpreted through the lens of high fashion.

Designers from across the African continent and the diaspora will likely have a significant presence. And we can expect to see traditional fabrics used in modern cuts. From Kente and Ankara to tweeds and velvets, the materials will be doing a lot of talking. It’s about the stories embedded in buttons, lapels, linings, and pleats. How clothing can act as both armour and artistry. How they can be a source of pride and empowerment even for marginalised groups.

Our Red Carpet Wishlist: What We Hope to See

We love a red carpet that takes risks. And for a theme this rich, we hope to see attendees go beyond the expected and straight into the unforgettable.

Structure is everything. Think angular shapes, sharp shoulders, and meticulously layered ensembles. Tailoring that feels a little architectural, almost like a wearable sculpture.

Details matter. We’re talking something like standout stitching, visible seams, contrasting threads. The kind of construction that dares to reveal itself, taking ‘tailored for you’ literally.

And oh, the props: we want to see canes with detailed heads, umbrellas, single-eye spectacles, and tiny pince-nez glasses. Let's bring the theatre to the Met.

We’re hoping for:

Oversized shoulder pads that command space
Wide-leg trousers that echo the flow of a ballgown or the sharp drop of an A-line skirt
African textiles like Shweshwe, Kente, and Ankara cut into slick, structured silhouettes
Loafers of all kinds; heeled, flat, or even stiletto-heeled. As the It shoe of the night
A colour palette rooted in black, white, gold, and red: bold, regal, intentional
On the other hand, we foresee some colour blocking. Pairing colours that shouldn't go together but they work. Maybe a minty green coat with a scarlet undercoat and canary yellow trousers.
18th-century-inspired gowns with tailored, suit-like bodices
Top hats and dramatic outerwear to complete the fantasy of old-world sophistication
Cross dressing: Women in sharply tailored suits, men in pleated skirts, and everyone in between exploring the full spectrum of form and fluidity.

Beauty-wise, gel is the magic word. Hair should be styled, not left to chance: finger waves, middle parts, side parts, slicked-back updos, and sculptural styles that spotlight natural hair textures. We want to see Afro-textured hair shine.

The men? Groomed to perfection. We’re talking immaculate fades, sharp lines, and moustaches that feel intentional, not ironic or costumey.

And for makeup: it’s time to bring back the bold red lip. A timeless power move. Clean skin, strong brows, perhaps even some intense contour and just enough drama to balance the structure of the clothes.

The 2025 Met Gala is shaping up to be a love letter to the craft of clothing. It’s not about maximalism or minimalism, it’s about intention. Every stitch, every seam, every silhouette will count. And that’s the point. This year’s red carpet won’t be loud. It will be loudly skilled, filled with fashion that wows without trying too hard.